Superstorm Blows Away Political Pretense and Ideological Nonsense

Government is necessary during crises

The ruin and
hardship inflicted by a natural disaster can reveal truths that political
propaganda tends to obscure. When Hurricane Sandy destroyed swaths of the
Northeast, darkened our largest city and plunged a huge section of the nation
into crisis, the anti-government ideology of the tea party Republicans—and of
its panderers like Mitt Romney—was exposed as pretense and nonsense.

Suddenly
responsible for saving their communities and their people, politicians of every
stripe reached out for help from the big Washington government and the liberal
Democratic president many of them had previously reviled. They were duly
impressed by President Obama’s alert, active and concerned response.

None of this
should have surprised us. What we learned from Sandy is the same lesson that
Katrina ought to have taught us years ago: The right wing’s disdain for
government can imperil your health, your family's safety and your nation's
security.

Yet we clearly
needed to learn it all again—and the events of the past few days have been
starkly instructive.

At the center of
the storm's aftermath stood New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, different in political outlook
but united in their commitment to provide relief to their communities and in
their own need for assistance from the federal government. None of these men is
an anti-government ideologue. Surrounded by suffering and wreckage, they looked
to Washington because no other power could begin to cope with the boggling
problems they confront, both immediately and as they contemplate
reconstruction.

The partisan
divisions of a national election shouldn't matter at such a moment, as Christie
observed impatiently when a Fox News anchor suggested that he provide a photo
opportunity for Romney in the disaster area. What rightly mattered to the New
Jersey governor was President Obama's focused and intelligent presence—and he
didn't hesitate to praise the Democrat whose leadership he has questioned so
often since the Republican convention in August.

FEMA to the Rescue

Now the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the military services and all the other
powers of government are mobilizing, as they have done so many times before, to
bring relief and rebuilding to devastated communities. Having struck the
nation's media and financial center, this storm is more visible than many
previous disasters, but the principle always remains the same: America is one
nation that lifts up those in pain and in need together.

This catastrophe
is different, too, because it occurred during the final days of a presidential
election—creating a tricky situation for Romney or any other challenger, to be
sure. But after years of encouraging anti-government extremism in order to win
his party's nomination, the Republican candidate finds himself in even greater
difficulty.

While the
president canceled his campaign schedule and flew northward to join the relief
effort, Romney struggled for relevance. Presumably with the best intentions, he
tried to transform an Ohio rally into a charitable gathering, where his
campaign would collect canned food and bottled water for hurricane victims. But
then his campaign workers were caught purchasing cases of food and water at a
local Walmart, evidently planning to stage fake giving, if necessary.

As he played his
role in this flummery, Romney repeatedly refused to answer questions from
reporters about his vow to dismantle FEMA as a cost-cutting measure. It would
be "immoral" to spend money on federal disaster relief, as he told a
debate audience in 2011, when the government is running a substantial deficit.
And it is true that the budget and tax policies promoted by Romney and his
running mate, Paul Ryan, would require such significant cuts in domestic
spending as to decimate disaster relief.

Disbanding FEMA
and discarding its skilled personnel apparently would be fine with Romney, who
said "absolutely" when asked by CNN's John King whether he would
consign disaster relief to the states rather than the federal government. For
that matter he would go still further, said the former Massachusetts governor;
best of all would be to let the private sector assume FEMA's responsibilities.

Nobody asked
Romney how a privatized FEMA would function, but it is interesting to imagine
the private-equity version of disaster management—and how that entity might
squeeze profit from tragedy. Under present circumstances, the Romney campaign
denies any plan to abolish FEMA, but who really knows?

In this awful
moment Christie, Cuomo, Bloomberg—and every other official watching them—must
have realized that should cataclysm strike their city or state, they have a
reliable partner in President Obama. The Romney Republicans inspire no such
confidence.

Poll

A Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission panel upheld the firing of former Milwaukee Police officer Christopher Manney for violating department rules last April when he encountered Dontre Hamilton before fatally shooting him. Do you agree with the commission’s decision?